1. Mini Unit!
Political Behavior:
Political Parties,
Voting & Voter Behavior,
The Electoral Process,
Mass Media & Public Opinion,
Special Interest Groups

2. Parties and what they do:
• Political Parties
– Group of people
– Broad common interests
– Organize to:
• Win elections
• Control the gov’t
• Influence gov’t policies
• Two major parties in the United States.
– Republican and Democrat

3. How many parties?
• One-party system
– Authoritarian
governments
– Gain control
through….?
– Examples?
– Theocracy –
religious control
• Multi-party system
– France has 5, Italy
has over 10
– Widely differing
ideologies
– CoalitionsCoalitions usually
formed

4. Why do we have a two-party system?
Historical Explanations…
• People weren’t all ‘bout it, ‘bout it.
– George Washington warned against, “baneful
effects of the spirit of party.”
– James Madison, “the public good is
disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties,
and…. Measures are too often decided, not
according to the rules of justice and the rights
of the minor party, but by the superior force of
an interested and overbearing majority.”

5. Historical Explanations cont.
• Ratification produced the first ones – ???
– Then you had Federalists (strong central
gov’t) and now Democratic Republicans
(strong state gov’ts).
• The force of tradition
– Simply accept it b/c that’s the way it has been.

6. Can third parties really compete?
• The Electoral
System
– Single-member
districts
– Ballot obstacles
– Financial troubles
– USA is
ideologically
homogeneous
• Do they impact
politics?
– Split votes and
change outcome of
elections
– Promote unpopular
or controversial
issues
• They first propose
many ideas

7. Types of third parties
• Single-issue
– Historical ex: Free Soil Party
• Ideological
– Historical ex: Communist or Socialist Party
• Splinter Party
– Historical ex: Bull Moose Party

8. Political Parties

9. The organization of political parties
• Talk about Federalism!!!
– National, State, and Local
branches thinly connected.
• Select own officers and
raise own funds.
• Membership - Member
or independent?
• Local Party Organization:
– Precinct – voting district,
100-1000’s of people
• Don’t forget about
Precinct captains, wards,
and party county
chairperson
• State Party Organization:
– State central committee
and party state chairperson
• National Party
Organization:
– National convention,
national committee, party
national chairperson

10. What do political parties do?
• Recruiting candidates
• Educating the public
• Operating the gov’t
• Dispensing patronage
• Loyal opposition – watchdog
• Reduction of conflict

11. How to nominate:
• 1.) Caucus
– Private meetings of party leaders; 19 states use
• 2.) Nominating convention
– Official public party meeting to choose
candidates for office
• Local to county, county to state
• Political machines…. downfall

12. How to nominate:
• 3.) Primary election
– Direct primary – most used method
• Election where party members select people to run
in a general election
• Closed, open and blanket primaries
• 4.) Petition
– Self-announcement (oldest)
– Write-in candidates

13. The National Convention
• Held once every four
years in late summer.
• Select Presidential
and VP candidates.
• Set agenda and
platform.
• Unify the party.

14. Election Campaigns
• Keep your eyes on the prize…
• When do campaigns begin?
– End E-Day:
• 1st
Tues, after 1st
Mon, in Nov., even # years.
• Must win _____ electoral votes.
– 538 electors = 435 reps + 100 senators + 3
Wash DC electoral votes.
– Pay special attention to what states?

15. Campaign Organization
• Strategy
– Aggressive vs. low key
– Themes or slogans
– What issues stressed?
• Campaign manager – run everything!
• Use mass media:
– TV – commercials, Internet, Radio, Magazines
• Image…. Soooo important, look at Nixon v. JFK.

16. Financing a Campaign:
Campaign Spending Amounts
• 2004 – Pres and Cong
candidates spend $3.9
billion
– For what???
• FECA (Federal Election
Campaign Act)
– 1971, indep from exec
branch, 6 members
• 1.) Require timely
disclosure of campaign
finance data
• 2.) Place limits on
campaign contributions
• 3.) Place limits on
campaign expenditures
• 4.) Provide public
funding for several parts
of Presidential election
process

17. FEC – Federal Election Commission
• 1974 amendment to FECA law.
• Must keep record of campaign contributions.
– Open to public
• All contributions over $100 must be reported to
FEC.
• Gives Presidential candidates access to public
funds.
– 3rd
parties can get it if they got 5% of the pop vote last
election
• 1976 – Supreme Court said limiting individual
campaign contributions to candidates doesn’t
violate 1st
amend.

18. Disclosure Requirements: FYI
• No person or group
can make a
contribution in the
name of another
• Cash gifts over $100
are not allowed!
• No contributions from
a foreign source
• All contributions must
be made through a
single campaign
comm.
• Any contributions
over $100 must have
the source and date
• $5000 has to be
reported to the FECA
no later than 48 hours
after it was received.

19. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
• No person can give more than :
• $2000 to a federal candidate’s general
election campaign
• $5000 to a PAC
• $25,000 to a national party committee

20. Limits on Expenditures
• Congress first limited spending in 1925
• In 1996, no major party contender could
spend more than $30.6 million in
preconvention
• After the conventions, the limit for the
contenders was $61.8 million
• When Ross Perot ran in 1992, he had no
limit because he used his own money.

21. Voters and Voter Behavior

22. The Constitution & Suffrage
• Suffrage – the right to Vote….
• Electorate – the potential voting population
– Who was the first?
• What has restricted voting in the past:
– Age, gender, race, literacy, property
ownership, religion, language, grandfather
clause, poll taxes, etc.
• Once a State right, now a Fed Gov’t job

23. Five Stages of Suffrage
• 1st
– Religion/Property
– Early 1800’s – religious qualifications
disappeared.
– Mid 1800’s – property ownership dropped, by
this time nearly all white men could vote.

24. Five Stages of Suffrage
• 2nd
– Race
– 15th
amendment
• 3rd
– Gender
– 19th
amendment
• 4th
– Upholding
voting rights
– 1960’s Voting
Rights Acts
– No more
discrimination!!!
Like what…..???
– 23rd
and 24th
amendments

25. Five Stages of Suffrage
• 5th
– Age
– 26th
Amendment
– What historical event was going on at this
time, to make the national voting age lowered
to 18?

26. Voter Qualifications in the States
• 1 – Citizenship
• 2 – Residence
• 3 – Age (Set by Constitution)
• 4 – Registration
– National Voter Registration Act (1995)
• Keep ballots at DMV, post office, state offices, etc.

27. Issues in Voting
• Who can’t vote?
– Mentally
incompetent.
– Convicted of a felony.
– Dishonorable
discharge from the
military.
– Duelists, vagrants, or
polygamists.
• Between 50-60% of
the electorate votes.
• Ballot fatigue
– Less votes further
down
• Split ticket voting
– Delivers blow to party
identification

28. Who is MORE LESS
likely to vote? Likely to vote?
• Wealth – High
income/occupational
status.
• Education
• Age
• Two-party competition
• Strong party
identification.
• Younger than 35.
• Not married.
• Lower paying, less
skilled professions.
• If you live in the
South or in a rural
location.

29. The Ballot
• A device by which a
voter registers a
choice in an election.
– Done in each state by
secret, many diff
forms.
• Office-group
– Ticket-splitting
• Party-column

30. Special Interest Groups
Example:
Tobacco and legislation

31. What is an Interest Group?
• Group of people with common goals, try
to organize and influence gov’t.
– Ex: Christian Coalition, NRA, NEA, etc.
– Bridge gap b/t citizen and gov’t.

32. Interest Groups vs. Parties
• Interest Groups
– Don’t nominate
candidates.
– Chiefly concerned with
influencing policy.
– Attempt to influence
only those policies that
directly affect their
members.
• Parties
– Parties nominate
candidates for office.
– Chiefly concerned
with winning
elections.
– Must concern
themselves with the
full range of policy
issues.

33. Interest Group Functions
• Strength in numbers… fair?
• Why would you join one?
– Economic self-interests, opinion, social
• Stimulate interest in public affairs.
• Provide useful, detailed information to
Gov't officials.
• Vehicles for effective political
participation.

34. Types of Interest Groups:
Groups based on economic interests
• Business Groups
• Labor Groups
• Agricultural Groups
• Professional Groups
• Environmental
• Public
• What do they use to
get their information
out there and to the
public?
• PROPAGANDA

35. 8 Types of Propaganda
• Spin
– Interpreting a political
event or statement
from one point of
view.
• Plain Folks
– Pretend to be a
common person
• “I am the worker’s
friend.”
• Bandwagon
– Follow the crowed, be
with the majority
• “A is voting for X; so
are B, C, and D. Why
not you too?”
• Labeling (name-
calling)
– Don’t discuss facts;
just give the
opposition a bad
name.
• “Un-American”

36. 8 Types of Propaganda
• Glittering Generalities
– Broad and vague
statements.
• “In the interest of peace
and prosperity.”
• Transfer
– Use symbols to accomplish
purposes for which they
were not intended.
• “Uncle Sam”
• Testimonials
– Endorsement by a
celebrity.
• Card stacking
– Present only one side
of an issue through
distortion and juggling
of facts.
• “2 + 2 = 22

37. Lobbying
• The Work of a
Lobbyist
– Hired by interest
groups
– Influence legislation
• Present expert
testimony
• Use mass media
• Grass-root campaigns
– Shape legislation once
passed
• Lobby Regulation
– False testimony and
bribery
– Congress requires
them to register
– Hard to enforce

38. Political Action Committees
• Provide funds to interest groups.
• Specifically formed to raise money.
– Esp. for political candidates
• Created after FECA and FEC passed
– Loophole
• Must register with gov’t 6 months before election.
• Can give $5,000 directly to each candidate for an
election.
• In 2000 – PAC’s gave $42 million to Senate candidates
and $123 million to House candidates.

39. Mass Media
and
Public Opinion

40. What is public opinion?
• Ideas and attributes a
significant number of
Americans hold
about gov’t and
political issues.
• Three signif factors:
– Diversity
– Communication
– Significant numbers

41. How do we develop public opinion?
• Political socialization
– Family, home, schools, peer groups, social
characteristics, mass media, etc.
• Ideology vs. Issue

42. Measuring Public Opinion
• Political party organizations (formed or
forming)
• Interest groups
• Mass media
• Letter writing
• Electronic access
• Straw polls
– Biased, unreliable, and unscientific

43. Most reliable method….
Scientific Polling
• Step one
– Select a sample of the group to be questioned
• Random & representative
• 1,200-1,500 people
• Step two
– Present carefully worded questions to
individuals in the sample
• Step three
– Interpret the results

44. Where does Mass Media fit?

45. Mass Media
• All means for communicating information to the
general public.
– Like what???
• What role does Mass Media play in our gov’t?
– Think of how the President uses it,
• “Television has done as much to expand the powers of the
President as would a constitutional amendment of the three
branches of gov’t.”
– J. William Fulbright, 1970
• News release, news briefing, press conference, media event

46. What role does it play in our gov’t?
• Identifying candidates
• Campaign advertising
– Spot advertising
• Keeping an eye on them…
– C-SPAN (since 1986)
• 1st
amendment
– Rights of access, shield laws, libel, fairness
doctrine
• Internet… how has this changed things???

47. “The people are the only censors of their
governors…The only safeguard of the
public liberty…is to give them full
information of their affairs through the
channel of the public papers and to
contrive that those papers should
penetrate the whole mass of the people.”
Thomas Jefferson, 1787